The Guardian

Let’s forget him for a minute. You said he had jumped out of a van. Do you remember what kind of van? You know the color or anything about it?”
    “I noticed it cause I heard these tires squealing as he tore out from the light on the corner. When he got turned, he just slowed down and drove past me real slow. That’s what spooked me I guess. It drove pass me really slow, like he was lost or something. Like maybe trying to find something. Then, it just stops on the side up ahead of me. I saw the side door come open, just a bit though.
    “It was white with black windows, and that’s about all there was to that. Other than that it was really just a plain white van. If he hadn’t been drivin’ so slow, I wudn’t of seen him.”
    “That’s really good. You did really well. You’re a very brave little girl. You should be very proud of yourself. Does your family, your mother, or somebody know where you are?” Laura asked.
    “No ma,am, I can’t call her on a count we gots no phone at our house.”
    “Well, that’s okay. We’ll give you a ride, go in, and talk to your mother. We’ll explain everything to her for you.” Laura said. She looked up at John who had been standing by taking notes all of this time.
    “That’s right,” John said. “You ever ride in a police car before?”
    “Uh, uh she said. I ain’t ever been rested before. This is my first trouble.”
    “Well, first off, you’re not in trouble now okay. You should understand that. You did nothing wrong. We’re here to help you, not punish you for anything, okay?”
    “Okay.” The young girl said. She just looked up at him with her big, brown, innocent looking in eyes.
    As they walked out of the store, John turned to Ms. Maple and handed her one of his cards. “If you hear of anything else, see anything, please give me a call. That’s my private number. You can call any time, day or night.”
    “And thank you very much for your help” Laura threw in.
    “Oh, you are quite welcome. Somebody needs to look after these yungins, all them sickos runnin’ around out here. I swear I don’t know what this world is comin’ to.”
    They walked out to their car, the young black girl in tow. “You can ride in the front.” Laura said. Give you a first hand look at what’s up there.”
    “Wow! Really, thanks.” Angie said. She was starting to feel a lot better. That’s what they wanted to do. Help to take her mind off her ordeal.
    Laura jumped into the back. John slid in behind the wheel. Everyone fastened their seatbelts and they pulled out and headed for Angie’s house.
    John couldn’t help but think this was one of the few lucky ones. It didn’t ease his worry about the other two. This just meant the bastard was still out there and he wasn’t done yet. It was time to turn the heat up, a lot.
    Chapter 59
    It was all over the news. It was the first and only clue into the mystery surrounding the two missing girls. It told of a white, Plymouth Mini-Van with blacked out windows. The first witness had ID’d it from the pictures, the blacked out windows confirmed Anyone seeing this vehicle or having information or the owner should not try to apprehend the individual but should contact the LVPD as quickly as possible.
    Henry, the secretary from the IOOB Motorcycle club stated that they had offered a reward of $5,000 for the information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of the two young girls. They were encouraging other bike clubs to meet or exceed their offer.
    Jack sat there, glued to his TV. He couldn’t believe it. How could he have been so stupid? Well, he’d have to do something different with the van that was for sure. He couldn’t just get rid of it now. Even through the Mexicans. Hell, for $5,000 they’d turn their own mothers in. If he tried to have it painted that would only draw attention as well.
    He definitely had to do something. First thing would be to change the damn windows. That would be the easy part. It was only film. Aside from some serious elbow-grease he could clean them off. Then, using a different color film, say bronze or silver, he would recover them. It wouldn’t be as good as the shops did it but he could make them look good enough for his purposes.
    Jack walked out to the garage where the van was parked. He went through the cabinets and shelves until he found everything that he needed to remove the film from the windows. Then, with the vigor